Central Philippines hit by powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake

"A 6.9-magnitude quake has struck off the the central Philippines coast, damaging buildings and roads and knocking out power in parts of the region, as rescuers searched for casualties. Municipal workers checked a collapsed public building and a gym, both in the north of the island of Cebu, hours after the quake struck at sea off its northern tip at 9:59pm (1359 GMT), said Wilson Ramos, a provincial rescue official."

"Recovery efforts were being hampered by the dark as well as aftershocks, he said. The US Geological Service has recorded four quakes of magnitude 5.0 or higher in the area since the first tremor. The local seismology office warned of a possible minor sea-level disturbance and urged residents of the central islands of Leyte, Cebu and Biliran to stay away from the beach and not to go to the coast."

"A Cebu firefighter, Joey Leeguid, speaking from San Fernando town, said: We felt the shake here in our station, it was so strong. We saw our locker moving from left to right, we felt slightly dizzy for a while but we are all fine now. Martham Pacilan, 25, who lives in the resort town of Bantayan, also near the quake centre, said he was at the town square near a church, which had been damaged."

A 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck at sea off the northern tip of Cebu at 9:59pm (1359 GMT), damaging buildings, roads and causing power outages across parts of the region. Municipal workers checked a collapsed public building and a gym in northern Cebu. Rescue efforts were under way in San Remigio and in Bogo, where people could be trapped beneath collapsed structures. Recovery operations were hampered by darkness and ongoing aftershocks. The US Geological Service recorded four quakes of magnitude 5.0 or higher in the area after the initial tremor. Local seismology offices warned of a possible minor sea-level disturbance and urged residents of Leyte, Cebu and Biliran to avoid the coast. Multiple commercial and educational buildings sustained collapse or damage.

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